Transom-lifter



(No Model.)

L. MOUAT, Jr. TRANSOM LIFTER.

No. 451,698. Patented May 5, 1-891.

lllllllllllllllll mur-mlm llllllllll =|llll' l the rod in position.

PATENT OEEICE.

LAURENCE MouAT, JR.,

OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

TRANSOM-LIFTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 451,698, datedlvlay 5, 1891.

Application filed March 17,1890.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, LAURENCE MOUAT, Jr., a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Transom-Lifters, (Case 3,) of which the following is a full, clear, concise, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forminga part of this specication.

My invention relates to that class of transom-litters in which a locking device is fixed to the door-frame through which the liftingrod slides, and so arranged that the rod may be secured in any desired position. In one of the most common forms of this class a simple set-screw is used, which is loosened when the rod is moved and again tightened to hold Sometimes a locking device has been provided adapted to be operated automatically, so to speak-that is to say, by pressing the rod in one direction or the other at the time the rod is raised orlowered. Such a locking device is shown in Letters Patent No. 243,079, granted J une 21, 1881. The automatic locking devices of this character have not for some reason come into very large or extensive use on account of, as I believe, the additional cost required in their manufacture over and above those having simply the set-screw for holding the rod in place.

The object of my invention is to provide a transom-lifter which shall be cheap, durable, and efficient, the locking device being readily operated by hand to release the rod, but adapted to automatically engage therewith when the pressure of the hand upon thelocking device is removed, since the greatest objection to the set-screw device is that, owing to carelessness, it is frequently left insuiiiciently secured.

I provide a locking device which shall be automatic in its action of gripping the rod,

' though requiring'special manipulation when it is caused to release the rod.

My invention consists more especially in the constructive details of the locking device, this locking device consisting simply in two pivoted clamps, with a spring between the clamps for causing the same to engage with the rod, these clamps being pivoted to a frame or casting attached to the doorframe, said Serial No. 344,146. (No model.)

casting being provided with a lu g or standard which serves as a friction bearing-surface when the rod is forced against the same by the separation of the clamps. The clamps are at their outer or free ends so shaped that they will be brought together when pressed between the thumb and finger, thus preventing undue pressure upon the spring when thus compressed.

Clamps in connection with a spring which causes the clamps to grip a rod have been heretofore employed, as is shown in Patent No. 202,154, granted April 9, 1878, for sashfastener, and in Patent No. 228,471, granted June 8, 1880, also for a sash-fastener.

My invention will be readily understood by reference to the accompanying drawings,in

which- Figure 1 is a side elevation showing atransom-lifter embodying my invention attached to a door-frame, the transom being closed. Fig. 2 is a front view of a locking device, the outer ends of the clamps being cut away, as indicated by section-line acof Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a detailed sectional view of the locking device upon line y y of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a sectional view of a portion of one of the clamps in engagement with the rod.

Like parts are indicated by similar letters of reference throughout the dierent igures.

The lifting-rod a, is connected bylink b with the bracket c in the usual manner, the lifting-rod when raised through the medium of the link and bracket serving to raise the transom and when lowered serving to close the same. Usual guides d e are provided for the lifting-rod.

My invention relates more particularly to the clamp or locking device at the lower end of the rod for holding the rod in any position to which it may be adjusted. This locking device consists in the casting f, provided with the standard, guide, or support g, and the loops t' lo. The clamps Z m are supported in the loops i 7c, as shown on opposite sides the standard g. A spring n, placed between the clamps, in connection with the friction bearing-surface g, spreads the clamps apart, so as to cause the clamps to grip the rod and hold the rod in any position to which it may be adjusted. The free ends of the clamps are bent toward each other, so that when pressed IOO together they will touch when in. position to permit the rod to freely move through the openings provided in the clamps, through which openings the rod is inserted. These opemngs may be of any suitable form to hold the rod pressed against the friction bearingsurfaee When the clamps are separated.

The operation of my device will be readily understood from the foregoing description of its construction. Thus, the user taking hold of the lower end of the rod with one hand and Wlth the other pinching the clamps lm together, the rod will be released. The rod may then be raised or lowered to the position desired, and then on simply letting go of the clamps the spring spreads the clamps apart, as shown, so as to grip the rod and hold the same 1n position. The standard f serves as a frlctional bearing for the rod, and the spring n maybe held in proper relation to the clamps thereby. I thus provide a transom -lifter which is simple and cheap in construction and at the same time durable and efficient in operation.

.Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- In a transom-litter, the combination, with a sliding rod, of two pivoted clamp pieces through which the rod passes, a single coiled spring around the rod and bearing at its opposite ends against the clamp-pieces, and a casting provided with a-standard G, which projects between the coils ot the spring and holds it in place and also serves as a bearing for the sliding rod, substantially as set forth.

In witness whereof I hereunto subscribe m y name this 12th day of March, A. D. 1890.

LAURENCE MOUAI, JR.

Vtnesses:

ELLA EDLER, C. G. HAWLEY. 

